CHICO, Calif. - A Chico man was found guilty of what the Butte County District Attorney called a "brutal assault" of a Chico State professor in 2017.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Ryan Edgar Wayne Muscat was renting a room at the home of the professor in October of 2017 when he assaulted the 59-year-old.

During the trial, the jury convicted Muscat of felony assault causing serious bodily harm. They also found he had a previous felony strike out of Orange County for a 2006 robbery.

Ramsey said the professor had rented the room out to Muscat and was trying to evict him for alcohol and drug use. Officials say this is when Muscat attacked the professor during the early morning in late October.

Facing up to 24 years and eight months in prison, Muscat's sentencing has been postponed until January trials are heard regarding two other criminal cases alleged to have been committed by him: carrying a concealed knife in September of 2018 and for throwing urine on Butte County Jail correctional officers while serving time in October of 2018.

The professor suffered severe and permanently disabling injuries to his face, shoulder and brain.